Filling-feeler.



I. GOTERCH.

FILLING FEELER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-3l. |917. 1,290,973. I Patented Jan. 14, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

BY www /wwf n.: :om: una am rnmumn, *summum n l;

fw i? 1 I. GOTERCH.

FILLING FEELER.,

APPLICATION FILED AUGBI. I9I7.

Patnted 1311.111919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

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A TTORNE Y.

.1. GOTEHCH.

FILLING FEELER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.31. 1917.

1,290,973. Patented Jan.14,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

m6; F /0 /07 y .f7-5w INVENTOR.

J. GOTERCH.

FILLING FE'ELER. Y `APPLICATION FILED AUG31. 1917.

1 ,290,973. Patented Jan. 14, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Jay/a IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

JOZEF GOTERCH, OF. LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.

FILLING-FFFLEE.

'Specification of Letters Patent. -Patented J al1. 14, 1919.

Application filed August 31, 1917. SerialNo. 189,106.`

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JoznF Go'rERoH, a citizen of Austria, residing VatLawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Filling -Feelers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to filling feeler devices for looms. Its objectis to provide means which will permit as much as possible of the fillingon the bobbin in a shuttle to be used before the filling is replenishedwhereby there will be less filling wasted. It is more particularlyadapted for looms in which the filling is automatically replenished, asby the substitution of a full bobbin for an empty one, but it canreadily be adapted for use with almost any type of loom.

My device is especially useful on looms in which there is a battery ofbobbins which are introduced one after another into a working shuttle.Such looms have a lay beam with a shuttle race and shuttle boxes withlling changing mechanism operative by a movable shifting arm. Thisshifting arm, whenever it is moved in a predetermined manner through themedium of devices of well known construction operative by feelermechanism, operates ina well known manner to start the filling changingmechanism which, without stopping the loom, ejects the old bobbin andreplaces it by a new one.

My invention relatesespeciallv 'to feelers which yoperate verticallyinto or through the bobbin recess in a shuttle. With my device there isno need of cutting a slot through the side of the shuttleV to permit thefeeler finger to enter as the feeler comes down from the top "into thebobbinv recess. In my preferred form I use a caliper feeler the legs ofwhich come downon both sides of the bobbin and which can be veryaccurately adjusted.

My device has few and simple parts `and can readily be attached to anyof the ordinary looms. It can be adjusted with great accuracy, but hasno delicate springs the Strength of which is' likely to vary. It cannoteasily be injured by binding on the shuttle, by the shuttle rebounding,or by any Yof the various accidents which occur in the operation oflooms.

It is so arranged that it cannot bind on the bobbin and will not beinjured if the shuttle binder does not work and the shuttle rebounds. Yl

By a very slight change in v,the shape of my feeler shaft, it canoperate .various types of shifting arms lsuch asthose which lare movablehorizontally or vertically. vI prefer to use it in connectionwith avertically movable shifting arm. I also prefer to use in connection withmy caliper, an auxiliary feeler which may consist of a Vsingle blade ata distance from the main caliper Vsuflicient to reach the middle part ofthe bobbin. v

Such auxiliary blade I nd is of advantage inconnection with'bobbins,which are defectively wound as on suchv-bobbins the usual type offeelers which operate inone l place only, are not satisfactory. Y

By sorting out the defectively` wound bobbins and using them in a loomprovided with my auxiliary feeler, I can save a considerable amount voffilling which otherwise would be lost. In this manner, the process ofrewinding such bobbins is done with.

If it seems desirable, in place of calipers, I can use in connectionwith a bobbin which has a longitudinal slot, a feeler which consists ofa single downwardly extending blade in position to` enter the slot afterthe yarn has run out, provided the 4bobbin is'I so turned that the slotis vertical instead of horizontal.

When used with a loom having a battery, magazine, or boxes at one side,I prefer to -.locate my devices at the opposite side.`

In the drawings, Figure 1 is van elevation from the front of the loomshowing my de-Y vice in connection with a layV beam, shuttle andl otherparts with which it is in operative relation. Fig. 2 isa sectionalelevation Yfrom the left on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig.

3 is a plan view of the feeler shaft and accompanying parts with anauxiliary feeler v in place. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view from the rightof Fig. 3 on the line 4-4e Fig. 5 is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 4with the spring plate and spring removed. Fig.

6 is an enlarged detail elevation of the feeler .Y

8, 9, and 10,'show different modifications of the knock-olf arm to adaptit for operation with different types of shifting arms. Fig. 11 showsanother modification in which an independent knockoff arm is shown asattached to the slide stripV through the medium of the hub and feelershaft. Fig. 12 is a detail view similar to Fig. 7, showing a singlefeeler member in connection with a vertically slotted bobbin. Fig. 13'isan elevation and Fig. 14 a plan view of my device adapted for a loom inwhich there is'no automaticv` lling replenishing mechanism, but whereinthe 'shifting arm is arranged merely to operate filling changing mecanism to stop the loom.

In the drawings, M represents the lay, R the shuttle race thereon, A ashuttle box at one end thereof, P a picker, and L a plate attached toand forming part of the lay beam. In this plate L is a vertical slot 19in which there is, vertically slidable, a slide strip 20. The strips 10and 11 `hold this slide strip in position and it extends upward to a.point above the shuttle race, and also down below plate L as shown.

` Fixed to this slide strip is a feeler shaft 73 which extends acrossand over the shuttle race. To this feeler shaft in a. position to rocklengthwise of the lay beam is pivoted the vertically operable feelermechanism to be described.

This slide strip and shaft carrying the feeler devices, are associatedwith means independent of the'shuttle to permit them to to drop and tolift them just before the shuttle is picked. Such mechanism is shown asincluding a connecting rod 22 pivoted to the slide strip at 21 and bentin any suitable fashion to clear the other parts of the loom. Its lowerend is substantially vertical, and adjustably the guards 23 and 24.

Fixed to any part of the loom frame such as 37, by means of a frame 36and a bolt 38, is a standard 35 to the top of which at, 33 is pivoted arocking arm T which extends out around the rod 22 between the guards 23and 24. This arm T may have a horizontal spring rod 40 extending from itconnected to one end of a lifting spring 39, the other end of which isattached at 41 to another part of the frame ofthe loom.

lTo arm is fixed a projection 32 which extends int-o the line of travelof a cam F attached thereto are carried by any convenient shaft 30 whichy and slide 2O will keep the feeler shaft and feeler raised away fromthe bobbin. At a point which is predetermined so as to be just as theshuttle is entering the shuttle box; on the side of the loom away fromthe battery, cam. F depresses arm T against spring 39 allowing thefeeler arm and feeler to descend'by gravity.V Just before the shuttle ispicked, cam F is Vso made and timed that projection 32 slips offallowing spring 39 to act in such a manner that the feeler shaft andfeeler are suddenly kicked up out of the way of the shuttle.. This kickis in the nature of a'blow and tends to release the feeler mechanism incase it might otherwise be jammed or bound'onV t-herbobbin.

VThe feeler mechanism includes a hub H pivoted on the feeler shaft, anda caliper feeler which includes one leg 52 integral with hub H, andanother leg 53 which is' shown as extending up alongside of hub H, andas being pivotal on the feeler shaft and extending Vdownwardparallelwith leg 52.

The part 53 is attached to the hub I-I by means of a screw 55. Thisscrew 55 may be Yes headed and have the usual slot for a screw driver.It is shown as Unthreaded where it passes through hole 57 in the hub andas threaded the rest ofthe way to its tip. It

also has an annular groove 56 with which a Y Pivoted onV feeler shaft 73is a spring plate 71 which extends downward and is slotted at 81 so asto pass snugly around screw 55 as shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 6. Areturning spring 5l at one end passes through a hole in shaft 73 andatthe other end into a hole Y in spring plate 71, whereby as the parts areheld together by `screw 55, the spring tends t0 return them when theyare'turned against its pressure. This spring is preferably 'of helicalform and longV enough to permit of considerable compression to allow thebracket which carries theV supplemental feeler 60 to be inserted betweenthe spring plate and legr53. Its pressure'holds these parts together.

To hold the hub inV osition on its other side, I usea collar 77 wiich isfixed to shaft 73 by means of a projecting set screw 78. I Y

prefer to so locate this set screw that it will project into the path ofthe upper back corner 74 of leg 52 and serve asa stop-to limit itsmovement from the pressure of spring 51, whereby it will be heldnormally in such a position that the caliper feeler formed by-V legs 52and 53 will be directly'over the bobbin B in the shuttle S.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9, the feeler shaft after itpasses the hub isr integral with and forms party of a knock-off arm.

This knock-off arm can be bent in various ways, as shown in Figs. 8, 9,and 10, as well as Figs. 1, 2, and 6, so as to be in operative relationwith the shifting arm which stops the loom or which changes the fillingas, for instance, by ejecting ,theV bobbin from the shuttle andreplacing it by a new one.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 6, this shifting arm 84 is shown as located under theknock-ofi' arm and as operable when it is pushed downward by the weightthereof.

In Fig. 8, 100 represents the uptur-ned slanting tip of the knock-0Earm, and 101 the shifting arm which, as shown bythe dotted lines', willbe forced crosswise of the lay beam when the arm descends.

Fig. 9 showsvthe tip 102 bent at right-an;

gles and angularly so that when the knockolf arm descends, it will forcethe shiftingarm in a direction lengthwise of the lay beam, as shown byits dotted position, from its full line position 103.

Y In Fig. 10, I show the tip 104e of the' down, to the right or left, ortoward and from the lay beam.

As shown in Fig. 11, I may use separate Vmembers for the feeler shaftshown as 108,

which is cut `of beyond collar 77 and the knock-oil' arm 106, which isshown as attached to hub H by means of a screw 107.

I findit desirable with certain 'bobbins, es-

pecially those which are defectively wound in such a manner that the4yarn unwinds from the part near the head where my calipers ordinarilyengage the bobbin, before it unwinds from the middle part, to use anauxiliary feeler which will hold up the parts until the yarn at thepoint where itl operates has also unwound.

I lind it convenient to equip one of a number of looms with such feelerand to use up all defective bobbins therewith. I arrange my device sothat this feeler can be readily attached or removed as I will nowdescribe.

I provide a bracket 59 which is preferably formed of an angular piece ofsheet metal with a vertical extension 146 in which from the top thereextends downward a slot 145 of such size that it will readily slipupward over shaft 7 3, and at the bottom a slot 80 of such size thatscrew 55 will pass through it with a running tit.

The other part of bracket 59 extends ou in al direction toward themiddle of the bobbin and has near its end a slot 147. The eelerpreferably includes a blade 60 of the thickness of the caliper portionof leg 53 VVshaft 7 3 and then twisting or pushing it to the left sothat slot 80 passes over screw 55, and then allowing spring 51 to bringthe parts back to their normal position.

Vith my construction, by adjusting collar 77 and screw 55, my caliperscan be made of any desired size and located directly over the center atone end ofthe bobbin and as the whole mechanism is permitted to drop bythe cam and accompanying parts at the time when the shuttle isstationary in the box, it' properly adjusted the calipers will stop. atthe point shown in Fig. 2 until the yarn has been unwound to thepredetermined point, after which the calipers, hub, knockoff arm, etc.,will drop to the position shown bythe dotted lines in Fig. 6, thusoperating the lling changing mechanism.

My device avoids the objection to some other caliper feelers that ifthey strike the wood of the shuttle, in case it rebounds too far, damageis done, as no injury occurs ii the wood is struck. Moreover, if theshuttle binder fails to work and the shuttle reboundsl after thecalipers have engaged the bobbin, no harm is done as the calipers arethrown up out of the way, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 7, andare Vquickly returned to operative position by spring 51.

Vspring 39, or if the spring should break or should be too weak', thehub and calipers, being` pivoted to rock lengthwise .of the lay beam,will be swept out of the way by the movement of the shuttle. f l

It is evident that instead of extending the knock-ott arm to reach theshitting arm, the shifting arm could be lengthened or bent in order toreach thel knock-off arm.

TWhile I prefer to use two-legged calipers in connection with a bob-binwhich has no slot. thereby saving the expense oi forming a slot in thebobb'in, I may however, as shown in Fig. 12, use for a feeler a singleCil blade 150 in connection with a bobbin such as 151 with a slot 152which is turned to the vertical position instead of the horizontal.

1With such an arrangement, when the yarn 153 which, as shown, extendsacross the slot in such a manner as to keep the blade 150-out of slot152, runs out to such a pointthat the blade is allowed to fall throughas shown by the dotted lines, the shifter arm will be operated in thesame Vmanner as when the caliper feeler is used.'Y

In such a case, however, guard 23 should be so adjusted that the bladecannot go too far into the bobbin, asy it mightfpossibly catch in theslot and prevent the shuttle from sweeping it up ont of the way as shownby the Vdotted lines, if the lifting springs should fail to act. Y

My invention covers a downwardly depending feeler free to movevertically and adapted to rock lengthwise of the lay beamV and meansindependent of the Vshuttle to permit it to drop and to lift it justbefore the shuttle is picked.

By the use of the term filling changing mechanism in this specification,I intendto cover broadly any mechanism which will act either toautomatically replenish the filling by changing the shuttle or bobbin,replacing either by a full one without finally stopping the loom, ormechanism which merely stops the loom so that the filling can be changedby hand.

I show such a construction in Figs. 13 a-nd 14 which represent one endof the breast beam at one side of a plain or fancy loom. When used on afancy loom, I prefer to place my devices at the side opposite from theboxes.

160 is the breast beam, 161 the shipper handle which, when the loom isrunning, rests in a notch 164 from slot 162 in guide 163, 172 is theslide, 170 the filling fork fingers, 171 the weft hammer, 175 theshipper knockoff lever, all of well known construction.

To the breast beam at 185 preferably over the knock-off lever, I pivot amember having an arm 187 adapted to engage the shipper handle and tomove it to stop the loom, as shown by the dotted lines, and an arm 186.

' To arm 186 I pivot a tip lever K one end of which 183 is the shiftingarm and extends out under knock-0H' arm 73 while the other end 182 whichis the heavier rests normally on stop 184.

To weft hammer 171, I attach a nger'180 with a head 173 which extendsout sidewise and normally moves back and forth with kthe weft hammerover the end 182 of the tip lever. IVhen the yarn has almost run out, myfeeler drops, and arm 73 engages shifting Varm 183 by bearing down onit. This lifts end 182, as shown by the dotted lines dotted lines inFig. 14, thus moving shipper 161 to stop the loom.

Wy device does not interfere with the feeler fork mechanism for stoppingthe loom when the filling breaks, but also stops the loom just beforethe filling on a bobbin runsk out, thereby making it unnecessary for theVweaver to turn back the chain to locate the pick.V Y

I claim:

1. In a loom having a. movable shifting arm adapted to operate fillingreplenishing mechanism, and a lay beam having a shuttle box, thecombination of a slide strip free to 'slide vertically on the lay beam,a feeler shaft so carried by the slide strip as to extend across andover the shuttle box, a collar adjustable thereon, a hub which has afixed depending leg pivoted on such shaft, an adjustable leg carried bythe hub, a screw which passes through a smooth hole in the first namedleg and through a'thr'eaded hole in the adjustable leg, a spring plateslotted at the bottom to receive the screw and pivoted on the shaft, areturning spring fixed at one end to the shaft 'and at the other end tothe spring plate, a bracket slotted at the top to engage the shaft andat the bottom to receive the screw, a feeler blade adjustably attachedto the bracket, and a knock-off arm fixed to the feeler shaft and inoperative relation With the shifting arm, with means independent of theshuttle to permit the slide and feeler to drop and to lift them justbefore the shuttle is fixed.

2. In a loom having a movable shifting arm adapted to operate fillingreplenishing mechanism, and a lay beam having a shuttle box, thecombination of a slide strip free to slide vertically on the lay beam, afeeler shaft so carried by the slidestrip as to extend across and overthe shuttle box, a hub pivotal on the feeler shaft, a caliper feelerwhich extends downward from the hub in a position to engage the fillingat one end on a bobbin in a shuttle in the shuttlerace, an auxiliaryfeeler blade carried by the hub in a position to engage the filling onanother part of the bobbin, spring means between the hub and feelershaft for returning the hub to its normal position, anda knock-olf armforming part of the feeler shaft and in operative relation with theshifting arm, with meansindependent of the shuttle to permit the slideand feeler to drop and to lift them just before the shuttley is vpicked.

3. In a loom having a. movable shifting arm adaptedV to operate fillingreplenishing mechanism, and a lay beam having a shuttle which extendsdownward from the hub in a position to engage the lling on a bobbin in ashuttle in the shuttle box, spring means between the hub and feelershaft for returning the hub to its normal position, and a knockoff armforming part of the feeler shaft and in operative relation with theshifting arm, with means independent of the shuttle to permit the slideand feeler to drop and to lift them just before the shuttle is picked.

4:. In a loom having a movable shifting arm adapted to operate llingreplenishing mechanism, and a lay beam having a shuttle box, thecombination of a slide strip vertically slidable on the lay beam, afeeler shaft so carried by the slide strip as to extend across and overthe shuttle box, a hub so pivoted on the feeler shaft as to rocklengthwise of the lay beam,l a caliper feeler carried by the hub in aposition to engage the filling on a bobbin in a shuttle in the shuttlebox, spring means between the hub and feeler shaft for returning the hubto its normal position, and a knock-off arm integral with the feelershaft in operative relation with the shifting arm, with a slide rodattachedl to the slide strip, stops carried thereby, a cam, means forrevolving the cam,

' and a lever operative by the cam which extends between the stops,together with a spring which normally keeps such lever in the raisedposition.

5. In a loom having a movable shifting arm adapted to operate fillingreplenishing mechanism, and a lay beam having a shuttle box, thecombination of va slide strip vertically slidable on the lay beam, afeeler shaft so carried by the slide strip as to extend across and overthe shuttle race, a hub pivotal on the feeler shaft, a feeler whichextends downward from the hub in a position to engage the filling on abobbin in a shuttle in the shuttle box, and a knock-0H arm forming partof the feeler shaft and in operative relation with the shifting arm,with means independent of the shuttle to permit the slide and feeler todrop and to lift them just before the shuttle is picked.

6. In a loom having a movable shifting arm, a feeler shaft in operativerelation therewith, and a depending feeler pivoted to rock thereonlengthwise of the lay beam, combined with means independent of theshuttle to permit the shaft and feeler to drop and to lift them justbefore the shuttle 1s picked.

7 A feeler mechanism for looms comprising a feeler shaft which extendsacross and above a shuttle box, `a collar adjustable thereon, a hubwhich has a fixed depending leg and is pivoted on such shaft, anadjustable leg carriedby the hub, a screw which passes through a smoothhole in the first named leg and through a threaded hole 1n theadjustable leg, a spring plate slotted at the bottom to receive thescrewl and pivoted on the shaft, and a returning spring xed at one endto the shaft and at thel other end to the spring plate, combined with abracket slotted at the top to engage the shaft and at the bottom toreceive the screw, and a feeler blade adjustably attached to thebracket.

8. A feeler mechanism for llooms comprising a feeler shaft which extendsacross and above a shuttle box, a collar adjustable thereon, a hub whichhas a fixed depending leg and is pivoted on such shaft, an adjustableleg carried by the hub, a screw which passes through a smooth hole inthe first named leg and through a threaded hole in the adjustable leg, aspring plate slotted at the bottom to receive the screw and pivoted onthe shaft, and a returning spring fixed at one end to the shaft and atthe other end to the spring plate, combined with means independent ofthe shuttle to permit the feeler shaft to drop and to lift it justbefore the shuttle is picked.

9. A feeler mechanism for looms comprising a feeler shaft which extendsacross and above a shuttle box, a collar adjustable thereon, a hub whichhas a fixed depending leg and is pivoted on such shaft, an adjustableleg carried by the hub, a screw which passes through a smooth hole inthe first named leg and through a threaded hole in the adjustable leg, aspring plate slotted at the bottom to receive the screw and pivoted onthe shaft, and a returning spring fixed at one end to Athe shaft and atthe other end to the spring plate. Y

10. In a loom having lling changing` mechanism operative by a movableshifting arm, a feeler shaft, a knock-off arm carried thereby inoperative relation with the shifting arm, and'a feeler depending fromthe feeler shaft and pivoted to rock lengthwise of the lay beam,combined with means. independent of the shuttle to permit the shaft andfeeler to drop and to kick them up out of the way just before theshuttle is picked.

11. In a loom, filling changing mechanism operative by a movableshifting arm, Ia feeler shaft, a knock-ofi' arm carried thereby inoperative relation with the shifting arm, and a feeler depending fromVthe feeler shaft and pivoted to rock lengthwise of the lay beam adaptedto feel for and to be held up` by the filling on the bobbin in theworking shuttle, spring means adapted to return the feeler to its normalposition, combined with means independent of the shuttle to permit theshaft and feeler to drop and to kick them up out of the Way just beforethe shuttle is picked, whereby When the lling has almost run out, thefilling changing mechanism will operate.

12. In a loom having a movable shifting arm, a feeler shaft in operativerelation therewith, and a depending feeler pivoted to rock thereonlengthwise of the lay beam away from the picker mechanism, combined withmeans independent of the shuttle to permit the shaft and feeler to dropand to knock them up out of the Way just before the -shuttle is picked.

13. In a loom having a movable shifting arm, a feeler shaft in operativerelation therewith, a knock-off arm forming part of the feeler shaft andin operative relation With the shifting arm, and a feeler depending fromthe feeler Shaft and pivoted to rock lengthwise of the lay beam from aVver- In testimony whereof I have atlixed my signature.

JOZEF GOTERCH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Uommissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

